TOP C programmers in the world?

This is a discussion on TOP C programmers in the world? within the General Discussions forums, part of the Community Boards category; Do you have any idea where I can find a possible list about the above question? Or what you will ...

Thank You! But I have heard that Jamie Zawinski should be in that list too But you know more than me... so you're probably right!

He was in your first five. He also has a much more technically savy homepage than my four, altho it contains no human readable information (wikipedia reveals he now makes his living as a niteclub owner in SF). Apparently C hackers pride themselves on their complete lack of interest in web-dev:

How do you even rank expert C programmers to begin with? Skill? Fame? Usage of their software?

Judging by the photos, perhaps the volume of their Very Large Gray Beards...but probably my criteria was influence and legacy. I don't know how relevant the concept of "skills" is going to be at the "top ten" level, assume they are all supremely skilled: you also have to accomplish something of public significance (sorry brewbuck) since otherwise you could just say the best chefs, or the best guitar players, or whatever, are actually people no one has ever heard of. Maybe, but pretty boring to contemplate.

Then that becomes very difficult to quantify, due to the broad range of applications for C. There are probably certain areas where C is used in which all those who have been named in this thread are merely mediocre.

I agree with laserlight that fame, usage, notoriety of one particular program, etc., are not accurate indicators of skill.

I agree with laserlight too altho we seem to have understood her in different ways, since I disagree with this. It is hard to understand the sense in which someone who is single handedly responsible for a major concrete achievement in the history of software (C, gcc, linux, perl) would not be "accurately" considered a skilled programmer.

I think some of the "top coder" sites that are around -- where skill is defined as the ability to implement an algorithm in a way that performs faster -- is a pretty good standard. And, following maxorator, these are often language independent (usually a C/C++ entry wins anyway). But I would not give my "top 10 in the world" medals simply to people who won contests that way. I think you have to have a historical significance to count as that, which would be highly coincident with fame, notoriety, etc.

So, while the "actual skill level in [a] real commercial/industrial workplace" of Kerrigan and Ritchie obviously has been tested (in the sense that they were working for Bell Labs...), it is not so relevant as the fact that they designed the language which 40 years later is still winning "top coder" speed contests.

there cant be a top C\C++ programmer in the world, not even a list of them.
its only factor isnt Fame, Coding Skills, Programs made. there are atleast two
hundred factors, the reason it is hard to create a Top C programmers list
is that everyday, a programmer gets in the list and replaces another. i hope
this is clear.